Participants: Ronny Shelton
Series Code: FC
Program Code: FC000221
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00:30 Hello, and welcome again to Faith Chapel.
00:32 I'm Ronny Shelton, and I hope that you've got your swords 00:36 with you today because we fight not against flesh and blood. 00:40 We fight a spiritual battle, and we have to have 00:42 a spiritual weapon. 00:45 Turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 24. 00:49 In Matthew chapter 24 we find that Jesus is telling His 00:53 disciples that the end of the age is near, and He begins to 00:56 give us signs of His coming. 00:58 He doesn't want us to be surprised, you see. 01:01 He wants us to know ahead of time. 01:03 He talks about it as a fig tree produces buds, 01:11 and we know that summer is near. 01:14 He says, so can you know that the end of time is near. 01:17 So if you will, go with me to Matthew chapter 24, 01:20 and starting in verse 1. 01:34 As I think about that, a number of years ago I was privileged 01:37 to go over to Jerusalem and see the temple that's there now. 01:41 I can imagine in Jesus' day going out on an early spring 01:47 morning and seeing the sun glistening off of the 01:51 granite stone. 01:52 It's wet with dew. 01:53 I can imagine how beautiful this must have been. 01:55 The disciples thought, you know, let's show this to Jesus. 01:59 So they took Jesus out and said, Lord, look at this building. 02:02 Isn't this magnificent? 02:03 Isn't this a wonderful, wonderful tribute to God? 02:07 Jesus said something in verse 2. 02:09 I'm sure they were so surprised. 02:23 I can imagine the disciples, their faces just dropping. 02:26 They couldn't believe what He'd just said. 02:28 Nothing short of the end of the world could make this happen. 02:32 So they were so surprised! 02:35 I mean, imagine the magnitude of this thing! 02:37 It's going to be torn down? 02:38 I want to say that when the Babylonians Armies came 02:46 in A.D. 70 that the buildings were set afire, and the gold 02:53 the silver ornaments were melted and ran down 02:55 in the cracks of the rocks. 02:56 I can imagine how many people must have been out there with 02:59 crowbars, and sticks, and all, prying the stones apart. 03:02 If that weren't enough, Ellen White tells us in Manuscript 35, 03:06 in 1906, that angels from God were dispensed to that site 03:12 to make sure that no stone would be left upon another. 03:17 So the angels themselves helped turn over the stones. 03:20 Let's read on now in verse 3. 03:43 You see, Jesus here is going to give some signs that they be not 03:47 taken unawares. 03:48 He doesn't want us to be surprised. 03:51 He doesn't want us to be under sneak attack from the enemy. 03:55 So he begins to lay out what the signs are of the end of the age, 03:59 you know, the end of the world. 04:00 So Jesus said in verse 4, Jesus answered and said unto them 04:06 Take heed that no man deceive you, for verse 5 says, 04:10 for many shall come in My name. 04:17 And shall deceive many! 04:20 You see, there's going to be many, many people that are 04:23 surprised because they're not reading the signs. 04:25 We go on and on in our daily life, in a daily 04:28 hum drum of our life. 04:29 Just the old rut of getting up and going to work, and coming 04:33 home, and watching some TV or whatever, and then going 04:36 to bed, and in the morning it starts all over again. 04:39 We begin to not smell the roses along the way. 04:42 We begin to not look up anymore and look at the signs. 04:46 Jesus says, I want to tell you in advance of what's 04:50 coming ahead. 04:51 In verse 5 He had said, There shall be many false Christ's. 04:58 Having been in Africa some months ago, while we were there 05:02 we learned that there had been three men claiming to be Christ. 05:05 Christ, meaning the Anointed One. 05:08 Jesus is His name, Christ is His title. 05:11 He is the Anointed One. 05:12 There have been three men in Africa who claimed to be Christ. 05:16 Each said they had risen from the dead, and each had 05:20 twelve apostles. 05:22 Many, many were fooled. 05:24 Many were tricked into thinking this was the Messiah. 05:27 We must know our Bibles. 05:29 Again, Jim Jones in Guyana, if you remember that 05:33 a few years ago. 05:35 Jim Jones said, I am Christ, and 900 people lost their lives. 05:39 900 people followed him, drinking poison, and committing 05:43 suicide at his direction because he said that he was Christ. 05:47 Now I can bring it a little closer to home for you, maybe. 05:52 There was a man just a few years ago in Waco, Texas, by the name 05:55 of David Koresh. 05:56 David Koresh said, I am Christ, and look at how many people 06:02 lost their lives following a man, you see. 06:04 There have been so many others! 06:06 The Haley's Comet people, and so many different groups 06:09 following a man, and it has eventually led to their death. 06:13 If only people knew their Bible better. 06:16 Christ's feet will not touch the ground! 06:19 Let's look at that text in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. 06:23 And there it says: 06:36 You see, we're going to be caught up 06:38 to meet Him in the air. 06:39 His feet will not touch the ground. 06:42 If people only knew their Bibles they could not be fooled by 06:45 anyone claiming to be Christ. 06:46 His feet will not touch the ground. 06:49 We which are alive and remain will be caught up to meet him 06:52 in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 06:57 Praise God! 06:58 Back to our text in verse 7. 07:12 Have you heard of any wars lately? 07:14 It seems you can't watch any sort of a newscast, or read a 07:19 newspaper without hearing about wars somewhere on the face 07:22 of this planet. 07:23 World War I was estimated to have had 20 million deaths. 07:30 Then just a few years later World War II came along. 07:33 If you remember brethren, that was the war 07:36 that was supposed to end all wars. 07:37 There would be no more after World War II. 07:39 The war that ended all wars! 07:41 Some 50 million people lost their lives. 07:44 50 million it's estimated; not all just guns, and knives, 07:48 and bullets, but so many people were displaced, were driven from 07:51 their homes, into the rocks, and into the mountains. 07:53 They died of starvation. 07:55 They died of freezing to death. 07:57 Displaced from their homes. 07:59 There's never been a time on planet Earth when more land 08:03 devastation has taken place as there was in World War II. 08:08 More land was destroyed in World War II than any other time. 08:12 So the World War II that ended all wars, didn't end the wars. 08:16 It was just a few years later and the Korean War came long. 08:20 After that the Vietnam War, and we know about the Gulf War, 08:24 Bosnia, and Kosovo, and on and on and finally to this day, 08:29 Iraq and the United States, where men and women are giving 08:34 their lives, and taking lives. 08:36 You see, Jesus said that in the last days there would be wars 08:41 and rumors of wars. 08:42 This has all happened. 08:43 I hope that you can see that; that you can agree with 08:44 me on that. 08:46 Jesus goes on and He said that there would be famines. 08:48 According to UN environmental studies 3 billion acres of 08:54 productive land have been destroyed since 1955. 08:57 You talk about famines! 08:59 Urbanization is just eating up our farmland, besides all of the 09:04 bugs and the pesticides that we use on our plants. 09:06 Jesus said there would be famines, and we know of famines 09:08 all over across the world. 09:10 We know there are well known countries famous for famines 09:12 such as Ethiopia, some African countries, 09:16 and some of the countries in India. 09:18 There is also some starvation in our area as well. 09:22 Statistics say that 57 million people die each year. 09:26 Of that 57 million people, 60% are malnourished, 09:32 20% are starving. 09:35 Jesus said that this would be a sign of the end. 09:38 I hope you can agree that that has happened. 09:41 Also in verse 7 Jesus said there would be pestilences. 09:46 Pestilence in the original language could be translated 09:49 to disease. 09:50 After traveling abroad I found out that in Africa Aids is the 09:56 number one killer. 09:57 Aids is killing people over there, and in India, 10:00 and some of the third world countries, as well as Europe 10:03 and the United States. 10:04 People are dying of Aids, and we can't find a cure for it. 10:06 Malaria is number 2. 10:11 The number 2 killer in Africa is malaria. 10:14 More recently SARS has come on the scene; West Nile. 10:20 Traveling through the port Hong Kong, we saw people 10:26 wearing masks over their faces that go through the airport. 10:29 They didn't want to breathe the air that was in the airports. 10:31 As we came down the tarmac from the plane, somebody had a 10:36 temperature probe and they would point it between our eyes. 10:38 They'd point it to everybody as they came along, 10:40 checking temperatures; looking for people that were infected 10:42 with the fever, so that they could quarantine them. 10:46 Jesus said that there would be diseases. 10:50 We have diseases now like we've never had before on this planet; 10:54 diseases without cures. 10:56 Then also in verse 7 Jesus said that there would be earthquakes 11:01 in many places. 11:03 Earthquakes in many places! 11:05 Most of us don't realize that there are some 11:07 6,000 earthquakes every year. 11:09 In the last 90 years there have been approximately 2 million 11:14 deaths due to earthquakes. 11:17 On December 26, 2003 in Bam, Iran had a big earthquake 11:24 and 41,000 people lost their lives. 11:29 They lost their lives due to an earthquake that was so big that 11:36 41,000 people are missing. 11:38 We thought that was big! 11:41 Then exactly one year to the day, December 26, 2004, 11:46 a 9.0 devastating earthquake just rocked our world. 11:51 The power of that quake is said to have speeded up the rotation 11:55 of this planet for a split second, slightly knocking it 12:00 off of its axis. 12:01 The total devastation is untold at this time. 12:05 The last I heard, some 200 thousand people have died. 12:09 Another sign that we are living in the end of the world! 12:13 Jesus told us in another place, in Luke 21, that there would be 12:18 signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars, and the sea, 12:21 the wind, and the waves roaring. 12:24 We certainly have seen the waves roaring recently in the Tsunami. 12:29 Jesus said there would be signs in the sun, the moon, 12:34 and in the stars. 12:35 Maybe you've heard of it, and maybe you haven't; 12:37 but May 19, 1780, the dark day in New England. 12:41 In New England they said that at about noon a mist came up 12:45 and it got darker, and darker, and covered 7 or 8 states 12:48 up in the New England area. 12:50 It stayed dark for twelve hours. 12:53 It was so dark that the roosters and the hens, and the animals, 12:57 all stockyard animals began to go to the barn, and the birds 13:01 went to their nests thinking it was dark; thinking it 13:04 was bed time. 13:05 They said you could hold up a white sheet of paper 13:07 and you couldn't see it in front of your face at high noon. 13:10 They were to have a full moon that night. 13:14 The moon didn't come up when it was supposed to. 13:17 It was delayed some three hours. 13:19 When it did finally come up it was blood red. 13:22 That's a phenomena that hasn't been explained yet by science. 13:28 They still do not know why. 13:31 They don't know why it got dark that day. 13:34 They don't know why the moon came up blood red. 13:37 It's all in history. 13:38 You can check it out. 13:39 They haven't explained it yet! 13:41 Jesus said there would be signs in the sun, the moon, 13:46 and the stars. 13:47 It reminds me of the meteor shower of 1833 when they said 13:51 there were so many meteors streaked across the sky, 13:53 and fell out of the sky, it looked like it was snowing 13:56 there were so many. 13:57 They'd never seen another sight like this; such a meteor shower, 14:03 to such great extent; covering such a large territory. 14:07 It's not been explained. 14:10 Let's go back to our text in verse 8. 14:35 Are we seeing that happen today, brother and sisters? 14:38 I know that we are. 14:40 We are seeing that all across the country where brethren 14:43 are fighting against brothers; country against country; 14:47 family against family. 14:50 We're seeing that the love of many is growing cold, 14:53 brothers and sisters. 14:54 Jesus said there will be these kind of times; 14:58 these kind of times ahead. 15:00 They shall deliver you up, He says, to be afflicted, 15:04 and they shall kill you. 15:05 We don't have to look very far back into history to find out 15:09 about so many places where people have given their lives 15:12 for the cause of God. 15:13 Deny God or die; and so many have died. 15:17 They were betrayed by their own family members. 15:23 Jesus said you shall be hated among the nations 15:27 for My names sake. 15:28 You see, we've had all of that happen. 15:30 We've seen all of that. 15:32 Jesus then goes on in verse 10, And many shall be offended, 15:37 and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 15:39 In verse 11 He continues: 15:48 Again we don't have to look very far for false prophets. 15:52 We don't have to look very far at all with the psychics 15:55 newspaper items; the columns by the psychics, 15:59 the 900 phone lines where you can call in and get your reading 16:03 for the day. 16:04 Jesus said there would be many false prophets in the last days. 16:10 We don't have to look very far to see these. 16:12 They've always been, by the way, they're not just new. 16:15 They're really surfacing now. 16:17 The internet is full of them. 16:20 After 9/11 of 2001, the most searched name on the internet 16:27 was Nostradamus. 16:29 Nostradamus, the psychic who made many predictions. 16:33 His name came up to be the most searched name on the internet 16:37 of anything on there. 16:39 People were running to the psychics to find out, 16:41 What's going on? 16:42 If we would only study our Bibles. 16:45 If we would study this chapter: Matthew 24, where Jesus is 16:48 laying out the signs before the end. 16:52 Another Psychic that comes to mind a few years ago was 16:57 Shirley MacLaine. 16:58 Shirley MacLaine wrote several books on her psychic 17:02 experiences, and in one of those books she claims to have lived 17:06 as a peg legged pirate. 17:07 Yes, a peg legged pirate! 17:10 She said she lived as an Indian princess. 17:12 She was a man from Atlantis. 17:15 She was the lover of Emperor Charlemagne. 17:20 You see, we can have a whole list of false prophets; 17:24 of psychics. 17:25 Jesus said this will be a sign of the end; that we are running 17:29 out of time. 17:30 Now I want to bring up just one more to you, 17:36 and her name is Jeanne Dixon. 17:38 Jeanne Dixon said that she was a prophet of God, and that she was 17:44 a medium to work toward God just as Moses and Elijah, 17:47 and some of the main prophets of God. 17:49 Jeanne Dixon said she was doing the work of God, 17:51 and she was a prophetess. 17:53 Yet she predicted that the President would die in office. 17:59 Everybody said, oh yeah, yeah, she predicted that John Kennedy 18:02 would be killed in office. 18:04 But if we look at that closer we'll find that she didn't even 18:09 predict that Kennedy would be elected. 18:10 She said he would lose the election, and yet she's 18:15 accredited as having said President Kennedy would 18:18 die in office. 18:19 If we looked closer we'd find out she didn't even think he was 18:21 going to be in office. 18:22 She was one of several psychics who helped set up President 18:27 Reagan's morning schedule. 18:29 Did you know that? 18:30 The Reagan's consulted the psychics every day 18:32 for their schedule. 18:33 Before they left the house they wanted to hear from the psychic. 18:36 She was one of those. 18:38 The National Enquirer says that Jeanne Dixon was rated as 18:44 30% accurate, and they're happy about that. 18:47 Can you believe that? 18:48 They were happy that she was 30% accurate. 18:51 Yet she claimed to be working the work of God? 18:56 You see, brothers and sisters, a true prophet of God will be 18:59 100% correct. 19:01 If God is inspiring the prophets they're going to be right on 19:05 target every time, not 30% of the time. 19:07 There was a book written by Ruth Montgomery. 19:11 She wrote the book of the story of Jeanne Dixon. 19:15 In this book she calls Jeanne Dixon "the gift of prophecy". 19:21 Does that sound kind of far out to you? 19:25 "The gift of prophecy" applied to Jeanne Dixon when she was 19:28 only 30% correct? 19:30 Jesus said, brothers and sisters, there would be many 19:33 false prophets, and we're seeing them all over. 19:37 Let's go back to our text in verse 12. 19:49 The love of many will wax cold. 19:53 You see, brothers and sisters, we live in a society now 19:57 where the love of many is so cold; stone cold. 20:01 We are a society who kill our own children, born and unborn. 20:06 A society where we abuse our elderly. 20:09 Where we maim, murder, rape, ravage, and plunder 20:13 our neighbor. 20:14 A society where a woman in the news just a couple of weeks ago 20:19 strangled another pregnant woman, and cut her open and 20:22 removed her baby, and claimed it as her own. 20:24 The love of many shall wax cold! 20:26 I just returned from a campaign in Oklahoma a few days ago. 20:33 It was on the news out there that a teenage girl in high 20:36 school had gone, left the school, and went into the woods 20:40 in the back, and gave birth to a baby. 20:42 She left it in the woods and went right back to class 20:46 as though nothing happened. 20:47 Jesus says that the love of people will grow cold, 20:53 and it has. 20:55 We live in that time, in that age now. 20:57 I hope you will agree with me. 20:59 Jesus predicted, and He was right on target again. 21:02 Then Jesus gives us a bit of encouragement. 21:10 He says, But he that endures until the end, 21:12 the same shall be saved. 21:14 Amen? 21:15 He that endures until the end! 21:17 We can't give up on God. 21:20 We can't give up. 21:21 We can't turn away. 21:22 We can't walk away from Him. 21:23 Where would we go? 21:24 Jesus asked the disciples and they said, Where would we 21:28 go Lord, you have the words of eternal life. 21:30 Where would we go? 21:32 To whom? 21:33 There's no place! 21:35 You see, brothers and sisters, Jesus makes one more prediction. 21:39 All of these others have come to pass in Matthew 24. 21:43 We've seen that. 21:44 All of them have come to pass, but there's one yet 21:46 that still remains. 21:47 That's in verse 14. 22:02 You see, this gospel of the kingdom, this gospel of Jesus 22:06 Christ and in His word right here. 22:08 This gospel must be preached in to the entire world as a witness 22:13 unto Him, and then the end shall come. 22:16 You see, we're not everywhere. 22:18 Everywhere in this world the gospel has not been preached, 22:20 but are working towards that. 22:24 The Adventist denomination was raised up in the 1800's 22:31 to spread this gospel; to get this gospel 22:35 into all of the world, 22:38 You see, the Adventist denomination was not brought up 22:41 to be a sitting church. 22:43 God didn't call us out of the world to sit in our pews 22:46 day by day. 22:48 He brought us out of the world into this faith to be 22:53 a movement. 22:54 The Adventist church is a moving church, one that's on the move, 22:58 and doing God's will, and spreading the gospel 23:01 into all of the world. 23:02 When this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all of the 23:08 world, for a witness unto all nations, 23:11 then the end shall come. 23:14 You see, I praise God that 3ABN is out there. 23:17 3ABN is around this world on seven satellites; 23:20 on every continent of this world. 23:22 Yet there are still some areas that haven't been reached, 23:26 because there are areas in the third world that have 23:29 no electricity. 23:30 They have no satellite reception. 23:32 They say they have no televisions. 23:35 Where that signal stops little foot soldiers like you and I 23:40 are going to have to take that message on out there. 23:42 The message of this kingdom has to be preached unto all of 23:47 the world, to every nation, and give those people a chance 23:51 to make a decision for God. 23:53 Amen? 23:54 When this gospel is preached, He said, 23:57 then the end shall come. 23:59 Until that time, He said, I want you to beware. 24:03 I want you to be on guard, and I'm giving you the signs 24:07 of the end. 24:08 You will know when the time is close. 24:11 Just as the fig tree starts putting on buds, and the flower 24:16 begins to shoot forth, He says, know that summer is nigh. 24:21 When He gives us these signs we can know, too, 24:24 that the end is near. 24:27 We don't have to be surprised. 24:29 But we will not know, brothers and sisters, if we don't study 24:32 the word of God. 24:34 If we don't realize that Jesus' feet will not touch the ground, 24:37 we can be deceived by one of those false Christ's. 24:41 One of those persons saying, I am Christ, can deceive many. 24:45 You see, the deceptions will be so strong in the end. 24:48 Jesus talks about them; that fire may come down from heaven; 24:52 that the Devil would work in lying wonders. 24:55 He would be showing signs that you would say that must surely 24:59 be God. 25:00 No, test it according to the word. 25:04 Isaiah 8:20, If they speak not according to this word, 25:07 it is because there is no light in them. 25:09 This word, you see. 25:12 So there will be many signs of lying wonders, lying healings, 25:17 lying prophecies, lying prophets trying to lead 25:22 God's elect away. 25:23 We must study this word, brothers and sisters. 25:26 We will be fooled if we do not. 25:31 It's just about over. 25:34 Time is running out quickly. 25:37 Jesus is coming soon! 25:39 Amen? 25:41 Jesus is coming soon, and we need to get ready, 25:45 and get our people ready. 25:47 We need to get out there and spread the gospel. 25:50 And, you know, it's so easy to say, well, 25:52 you know, I can't do that. 25:53 I can't be a part of spreading the gospel. 25:55 I can't go to Africa! 25:56 I can't go to India! 25:57 I can't go to Russia! 25:59 No, maybe you can't. 26:02 But you can help support someone who is. 26:05 You can help a person's ministry who is doing that very work, 26:09 the work of spreading the gospel. 26:12 You can support someone if you can't do it yourself. 26:15 Then I would bring that a little closer to home. 26:18 Maybe you are not physically able to go to another country, 26:23 but you have a mission field to work, because everybody in the 26:27 United States is not saved. 26:29 Everybody in this country is not headed for the kingdom. 26:34 Your mission field may be in your neighborhood. 26:37 It may be in your family. 26:42 It may be your spouse: your husband or wife. 26:45 It may be your children. 26:47 Your mission may be your parents, your neighbor, 26:52 those living right next to you. 26:55 You see, we all have a circle of environment that we operate 26:58 in every day. 26:59 We'll go to the grocery store. 27:02 We'll go get gas. 27:03 We'll go to the bank. 27:05 We'll go visit our neighbors. 27:07 We must tell them that Jesus is soon to come so this work can be 27:13 wrapped up, and we can be ready to meet Jesus when He comes. 27:17 When this gospel is preached unto all of the world for a 27:21 witness to all nations then shall the end come. 27:25 Praise God! 27:26 I'm looking forward to that today, and I know you are too. 27:30 Heavenly Father, we ask again Your special blessing upon each 27:34 ear that has heard this message today, Father. 27:36 We ask Your blessing. 27:38 Go with us now. 27:39 Give us strength to follow You fully and completely, Lord, 27:42 and to go where You lead. 27:44 Help us to be willing, Father. 27:46 In Jesus name, Amen. 27:48 Again, thank you so much for being with us today in 27:53 Faith Chapel, and may God bless each one of you. |
Revised 2014-12-17